


Kanae Otowa and the Tower of Ai

by shakespeareonmain



Category: Classicaloid (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Based on a Vocaloid Song, Blessed Messiah and The Tower of AI, Gen, i mightve written kanae a little out of character, so chances are i hecked up lmao, tchai pining for bach, the one where everyone dies, what is it with me and sad fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 13:11:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12582644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shakespeareonmain/pseuds/shakespeareonmain
Summary: The world, once teeming with life, was now reduced to a barren wasteland, and it was the responsibility of the Messiah, someone chosen by the gods, to bring warmth back to it again every fifteen years. Kanae's been chosen as the next messiah, but even with nine strange people by her side, can she do it?





	Kanae Otowa and the Tower of Ai

 Everyone knew what had happened- why their land was in such a fragile state, with no resources to be found, and people were few and far between. Just because God got angry at a few people didn’t mean he had to take it out on everyone. Kanae sighed and looked at the note in her hands- one from her father, who had disappeared one day without a care in the world. Looking back at the horizon, she decided to walk on, hoping she could find the people her father had told her to look for so long ago. The sun was setting in the blue sky, and she knew she had to find shelter soon.

Walking into the nighttime, Kanae knew it was going to be another boring night with just her and the mysterious note, but when the moon had fully risen she saw a group of lights flickering in the grass. Fireflies? No. Torches. Pace quickening, she began to walk toward it and was surprised to see two people standing and talking in the grass.

“Hello?” she called out to them.

“Oh, hey!” One of them turned to face her. “You look new. Come over!” Kanae paused, thinking- what if they were dangerous? What if they wanted to swindle her out of her possessions? What if they wanted to take her money (not that she had any)? She unconsciously reached up to touch the asphodel flower hairclip that she had stuck in her hair- a pristine white against the desolate background that was waves of green and brown.

“Uh…”She murmured and one of the people ran over. The firelight gleamed in his blue-green eyes- reflecting the dancing sparks. 

“Hey, I’m Motes! Or rather, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Sort of. It’s nice to meet you! You should come with me!” He extended his hand in an imitation (or was it a mockery) of chivalry, and the hair that had fallen out of his braid swayed in the wind. “It’s not good to be out here alone.” Kanae remembered the note- it said that people would be looking for her and if she looked for them, she’d find them. Could this peculiar Motes be one of those people?

“Okay, I’ll come.” She took Motes’s hand and was instantly shocked as he broke into a run to catch up with the other person, who didn’t look at her, instead focusing on the path ahead.

“That’s Beethoven. Just call him Beethes or Beto,” Motes whispered to her. “He’s kind of uptight and obsessed with fire and shit like that. He doesn’t really talk with anyone ever. Wait, Kanae—”He reached a hand out to the brown-haired girl who had ran off to Beethes.

“So, how are you doing?” she asked to him, who stared straight ahead.

“Ah, Wolf and his inaccurate perceptions of the world. He still pertains a childish innocence,” Beethoven mused. “It is not an advantage in this world. We must learn to adapt to the circumstances while not losing parts of ourself.” Kanae raised an eyebrow. “Now what are you doing, girl?”

“Uh, my name is Kanae Otowa. Nice to meet you.” She smiled nervously- this Beethes person really was something.

“Ah, you know Kyougo. He sent us all out looking for someone.” Still, he didn’t look at her. What was he, so intensely focused on his path that he didn’t bother to follow normal social cues?

“That would be me,” Kanae said informatively, and only then did Beethoven look at her with a piercing gaze. He sighed.

“Motes, get over here! We found our person!” There was the sound of light footsteps as the pink-haired young adult ran over. “Now we have to look for the others and meet together and do whatever was meant to be done. We must set our path safe and narrow and make sure not to be distracted.”

“Ludwig, we need to know if she wants to come! We can’t just drag her along on an adventure! Or we could, except unlike you, I actually care about her feelings.” Motes elbowed the taller person, and he winced.

“So. Girl. Do you want to come?”

“I have a name, but, yes.” The three of them ventured into the night.

* * *

 As time went on, the trio began to lose hope that they would find the other people. A week later, at midday, when Motes and Beethes were arguing, Kanae closed her eyes, if only to escape for a brief moment- when she caught the noises of something else. Opening her eyes again, she told the two people that she’d be back soon, and ran to follow the noise.

“Cho-chan, you can’t stay in your tent all day! Just come with us! It’s already midday and you’ve stayed in here for such a long time!” A blonde woman groaned. “Please, Chopin, don’t be difficult! We’ve received orders from this Otowa man to look for his daughter and we have to find her soon!” She turned around and saw Kanae standing there, watching the argument. “Oh. Hi.”

“I’m Kyougo’s daughter.”  
“Who?”

“The Otowa man.”

“Oh! I’m gonna need your help!” She said with a smile. “I’m Franz Liszt but you can just call me Liszt. I have the feeling we’re going to be great friends! Now come over here, I need help getting Cho-chan out of the tent. We don’t have forever.”

“Okay…” Kanae walked over to the tent and opened the flaps. What she saw was someone hiding under a blanket, oblivious to the world and everything. “Chopin? Come out. Liszt needs you.”

“No,” she heard Chopin say from underneath the blankets.

“Chopin, you got the note right? I’m the person you’re looking for.”

“Sure you are.”

“Then why don’t you go out of the blankets? You’re going to die of starvation or something.”

“No.”

“I’ve got only one choice left then.” Kanae grabbed the blanket and ripped it off of the thin, tall person whose golden brown hair covered his eyes. “Come out now. There are others.” Liszt, storming in, grabbed the man’s hand and stormed out. Kanae ran back to Beethes and Motes, gesturing to Liszt and Chopin.

“I think we found two more,” Kanae said excitedly. “They’re coming soon!” She looked at the woman and the man, who were walking toward the three of them. After a brief introduction, they walked on.

* * *

 It was a relatively short time before they found the next member of your group- and they didn’t even have to try, as they sprang from the brushes, tackled Beethoven in a hug, and screamed “BEETHOVEN-SENPAI!” so loud the heavens could practically hear them.

“Who the heck are you?” Beethes said in confusion.

“I’m Franz Schubert. But you can call me Schuu! I’ve been looking for you!” By the cross talisman he was wearing, Schubert looked to be a priest. His hazel eyes scanned the group until they stopped on Motes, and his smile twisted into a glare. “Now…. you. Demon-spawn! Hell fire! You deserve to burn in the—” Liszt stood between the two of them.

“It’s not the time to argue, guys. We all have a goal,” she said as an attempt to be a diplomat.

“And that goal is to be reunited with my senpai!” Schu answered back, and Liszt laughed, throwing back her head.

“Your love for Beethoven is truly quite admirable and I hope for the best that he returns your affections,” she said as she patted Schu’s head and sent him off. “And listen up, you guys- that goal is to find all the others. Chopin, get up. Schubert, put away that notebook.”

“I am only trying to capture Beethoven-Senpai’s poetic brilliance!”

Everyone sighed.

“Let’s go,” Kanae said with a hint of exasperation, and the band of travelers moved on. Leading, the group, she looked back at the slightly eccentric group of travelers- sure, they could be weird but they seemed not outrightly malicious.

* * *

 “Oh my god, I’m parched!” Motes whined a day later, right after they had used up their reserves of water.

“It’s not your job to complain- why don’t you yammer on about something important?” Schu raised the cross talisman into Motes’s face. “Or you could see the light of god, or Beethoven-Senpai, whose holiness is akin to a raging fire only heard about in the scripture—”

“Or in poems such as the ones that I write, that crackle with passion and desire and love.” Liszt interjected. “Or in the fire lighting the stage for Chopin’s dances.”

“We don’t talk about those,” Chopin said quietly in an attempt to join the conversation. “And Liszt, your poems are shit.”

“Your waifu is shit!” Liszt bantered back and the two laughed.

“All of you guys are some amount of shit,” Kanae muttered to herself. “But at least I’m not lost.”

“There is water up ahead,” Beethes said and glanced at Schu, who was gripping his talisman for dear life and praying to someone, probably Beethes. “It seems as though you prayed for the right thing, dear priest.” And at that point, it seems as though the bespectacled priest cried out of joy, for he had been blessed with not only water but by what he called a moment between him and his Senpai.

The group began to walk toward the pond, and the surface glistened with the sunlight from the sky. _Finally, some peace and quiet_ , Kanae thought to herself but was quickly interrupted by a shout- there was something worse than Schubert and Mozart’s fighting: two or three wolves. What would they do? They were vulnerable and sure to get slashed to pieces if somebody didn’t stop it. She looked at the group of people. Beethoven was trying to cook something and failing miserably, Liszt was trying to coax Chopin out from behind a tree, Schubert was praying, and Mozart was playing in the water. None of them were prepared.

“Guys! Wolves! Run!” She yelled and the five of them snapped to attention, looking at the bear and immediately freaking out- too freaked out to see someone creep out to the scene, sword in hand. Looking at the scene, it looked less like a group of wolves than a massacre as the swordsman quickly killed them, and only after the fighting did they notice the group of people. They waved.

“I’m Sousuke. It’s nice to meet you, I guess? I’m assuming you guys are here for food and water. Looking for anything? Because I’m looking for someone.”

“Who is that someone?” Kanae asked the person, who was a boy around her age- so she was less weirded out. 

“The note I got was sent from a mister—” he was cut off by Kanae.

“Kyougo Otowa?” Sousuke nodded.

“You’ve found the right group.” She gestured to the group of people by the small lake. “You can stay with us. We need a swordsman.”

Sheathing his sword, Sousuke walked over, and they were all pleased to have another member of their group back- it almost began to feel like a small family, the three of them.

* * *

The days seemed to stretch into eternity as the seven of them seemed to encounter more trouble in finding the remaining three- Kanae was so desperate that she asked Schubert to pray that they find them fast and soon, for the group of friends were quickly losing hope. She was really hoping for something good and soon.

God must have been turning a blind eye that day, because the night after Schubert prayed, they encountered people- who turned out to be caravan thieves who swindled people out of their possessions. They advertised themselves as “Traveling performers Clasky: Klasky”, much to the group’s chagrin, except for Motes, who had seen it in the first place and had asked Kanae if they could watch them perform.

“Help us! We’re starving and need possessions! Anything!” A blonde girl with short hair who looked about fifteen walked up to the group.

“Sure you do,” Chopin snarked and Liszt was surprised to see him speak.

“Please, we’d do anything!” A taller girl, seemingly the blonde’s partner, with black hair and bangs, went to her side.

“Well, we have a note,” Kanae offered- it was the least she could do and they had all gotten the same note anyway. She offered it to the blonde, who read it over.

“Wait,” they said. “I have this too. So does my partner.”

“So you’re one of us?” Beethes asked tensely. “Or are you deceiving us?” The other girl pulled out a note and as Kanae looked at it, she saw they were the same one.

“No, they’re one of us.” She nodded. The blonde introduced herself as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and the other one introduced herself as Tekla Badarazewska-Baranowska. Seeing as these names were too long, Tchaikovsky said they could call the two of them Tchaiko and Bada respectively.

“So, who else are we looking for?” Tchaiko said as she did a head count. Nine people including her- but the note said they needed ten. “One more person. Let’s hope they come soon. I can’t stand waiting.”

“Well, it looks like we’re all in the same boat,” Sousuke sighed and the nine people plodded on. 

* * *

 One night, about two weeks later, the nine of them were gathered around a campfire that Beethoven had managed to light, and were chatting about their daily lives- lives before the plight on the land had torn them apart. Kanae watched all of them with wide eyes- she was just a tailor, and all these people had always seemed so interesting.

“Me and Beethes were shepherds,” Motes said with a laugh.

“Not so much shepherds, my job was more like controlling the sheep and Mozart at the same time. The sheep were easier,” Beethes said with a deadpan voice.

“I was a poet! I still am! I write tons of poetry about love, and death,” Liszt paused as she looked through a small notebook- one full of poems. “and our inevitable destruction by the hands of God.” She laughed. “Don’t worry, those are few and far between. And Cho-chan, was a dancer. He just hated the crowds.”

“She lies,” Chopin mouthed at them.

“I was a priest, who has purified my soul with the holiness of God—”Schubert paused to look at Mozart. “and I have been bestowed with the lovely job of restoring demon spawn like you to a more knowledgeable level of refinery.” The pink-haired young man was oblivious, still grinning like an idiot.

“I was still a swordsman,” Sousuke said offhandedly. “But what I really want to be is a bard. I want to gift music to the world around us, and be original to stand out from the others, for all the people in my family are all swordsmen and I just waned to be different. But hey, it is fun hacking things to pieces.” He gestured to his sword.

“We were bakers,” Tchaiko and Bada said in tandem.

“But I was the better one—”

“Shut up.”

Kanae laughed. It seems as though the two of them had a facade in front of others but secretly hated each other’s guts. A friendly rivalry.

“I was the better one! You can only twist it into suns!”

“No, seriously, shut up! I think there’s a spirit behind her!” Bada pointed at Kanae who immediately leaped up to look at it. The spirit was a white-haired man whose hair was tied into a thin ponytail, wearing a white shirt and a blue cloak.

“Oh no, he’s hot,” Tchaiko yelped.

“How dare you call me a spirit, a figment of your imagination,” the spirit said. “I am Johann Sebastian Bach, the father of all music and I received word from my higher-ups to find a group of nine, and with your recklessness to be out in the open, my job was easy.”

“So you’re the ultimate dad friend,” Motes snarked.

“Be quiet, you imbecile. I have found my purpose. Now, blow that fire out and sleep. The moon’s almost halfway up in the sky.” At the presence of such an imposing figure, the nine of them set up their tents as Bach stamped out the fire.

* * *

 The next morning, just as they were about to leave and go on with their lives as a group, a messenger ran straight through to them, holding a scroll.

“I have a prophecy,” he panted out between sighs. “It says that Kanae Otowa is the next messiah, and that they must venture to the Tower of Ai at once to revitalize the world.”

“Well, she ain’t going alone,” Sousuke said as he walked up to Kanae. “She’s coming with us!” He paused. “Wait, where is it?”

“It’s just past the cliffs over there,” the messenger said and ran off.

“All right guys, that’s where we’re going!” Motes stood up. “To protect our messiah!” He started to run toward the cliffs immediately but Liszt called out after him.

“Remember guys, we can’t let this adventure tear us apart. We will share our joy and pain as a group. Aye?” The group agreed and began to walk toward the tower.

* * *

“I’m really tired, you guys. Let’s call it a day,” Sousuke sighed after two weeks of walking and climbing and who knows what else.

“No, we can’t give up,” Beethoven said tersely.

“Yeah, that’s right! Listen to Senpai!” Schubert agreed.

“We should at least get some sleep. Nobody functions well on a tired mind,” Kanae added. “I’m gonna go sleep now. See ya guys in the morning.” She turned to her tent but looked at the group, who was still talking. “You guys?”

“We still have some energy,” Bada said to Kanae. “We’ll stay out here.”

“Have it your way,” Kanae grumbled and went into her tent as the nine people talked in hushed whispers, as if they were afraid that she might hear. What were they talking about? What happened to sharing joy and pain? Were they doing this on purpose? Suddenly, all of Kanae’s suspicious came rushing back.

* * *

 She couldn’t sleep that night, and eventually decided to get up before dawn, looking at the stars. Unknown to her, someone else was watching too- Motes, who was normally so hyper and excited about everything, seemed to be more relaxed. His long pink hair, normally in a braid, was streaming down his shoulders as his eyes gazed clearly at the stars.

“I always did like the stars,” he said to himself.

“Me too,” she agreed and the two of them watched the moon sink into the sky- a quiet moment of peace and calm amidst the drama of restoring the world to how it once was. “Do you do this every night?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Then there was silence as the two of them felt the night breeze, and watched the sun come up- both surprised to see the silhouette of a tower. The Tower of Ai.

“Kanae, that’s the tower of Ai!” Motes said excitedly, all traces of calmness gone as he did his braid. “Holy heck, you guys, it’s the tower of Ai!” He ran excitedly around the tents, waking up their residents as they gazed at the tower. “It’s the tower of Ai! We’re gonna save the world! Come on, you guys, let’s go!” With an increasing urgency they packed up and began the climb to the tower- helping each other through the cliffs (with the exception of Motes almost dropping Schu because he saw a bird) and other obstacles. They stood in front of the Tower of Ai, marveling in all of its splendor and taking it in.

Kanae took a step forward and looked at the doorway of the Tower of Ai, seeing a scepter. She picked it up and looked back at her teammates whose expressions were ones of pure joy.

“You have done well in the trials of time,” Bach said.

“Please restore harmony to the world.”

“Bring the sun and moon to peace.” Tchaiko and Bada, respectively.

“Slash those bad guys!” Sousuke pumped a fist in the air. “Save the world! Be like one of those heroes in fairy tales!”

“May the gods up above bless your journeys to come,” Schubert said holding his talisman.

“This is the true meaning of love- something the world needs more of,” Liszt put a hand over her heart.

“Uh…good luck,” Chopin said quietly. He didn’t know what else to say. “Not that you’re going to need it,” he added on.

“Girl,” Beethoven said and stared into Kanae’s eyes, slightly startling him- the same piercing stare from when they had first met. “You have done well. You have a passion on you- one that I can’t pin down.”

“We believe in you. Go save the world. And when you’re rich and famous, don’t forget us!” Motes said with a smile. And with that, the ten of them walked into the Tower of Ai, anxious to see the blessings. They quickly reached the first door which was marked “Blooming Wave”.

There was the sound of Kanae’s shoes echoing in the chamber as she reached toward the light- a design of three waves: the ocean’s blessing. Not knowing what to do, she reached her hand toward it but was slapped out of the way by someone else- Bach, who she had grown to be friends with despite his personality.

“Bach, no! Please don’t leave me!” She heard Tchaiko call, but the world seemed muted- just the two of them in the chamber. She saw him smile- not a relatively kind one, but a baleful sneer. She backed up outside of the chamber as his hand moved closer to the blessing.

“We face joy and pain,” he said, white ponytail flowing in the presence of the magic, and the door slammed shut.

“BACH, NO!” Tchaiko banged her fists on the door. “Please come out…” she started to cry. “Please, I’m begging you! I love you! I’d give you the world! Please, please come back…” Bada ran toward her side.

“Tchaiko, we got to go,” she said quietly. “We have to go. We have to save the world.”

“Let her cry for a bit,” Liszt drawled. “She’s going through the throes of heartbreak.”

“Nobody cares about heartbreak,” Schubert said to Liszt. “We’re trying to restore harmony right now.”

“Then let’s go!” And the nine of them raced up to the second chamber. The doors parted to reveal the Fire Banquet- a glowing red ember, the blessing of fire to humanity. It looked so enticing- and Kanae knew that this job was meant for her. But before she could think, Sousuke raced in to take it.

“What the heck?” Kanae said to herself as the door closed. Another one gone. On the third floor was the Sunlight of Grace: the blessing of light, shining from above. She glanced at her group of friends. Who would betray her next?

“I’m not gonna do it,” Tchaiko said and shrugged at Bada. “Why don’t you?”

“I don’t think this is the right blessing for me,” Bada replied. “Why don’t you take it?”   


“No, I’m not gonna go off to who knows where for that normal, average girl!!”

“She wouldn’t be average if she was the damn messiah!”

“You’re just as average as her!” It was silent. Tchaikovsky was the only person talking.“I’ve always been the one to cover up for all of your mistakes in the trade! I could’ve worked on my own! But I had to keep you along because I was a good person! If it wasn’t for my pure, virtuous heart I would’ve tossed you to the side a few months ago!” The two of them didn’t realize it at the moment, but they were steadily creeping toward the third blessing which had gotten brighter and brighter as the argument went on.

“Well, then if you want the spotlight so much,” Bada paused to take in a breath, “Why don’t you take that blessing? You’ve always been the one in the light! I thought you wanted to restore the sun and moon to harmony! But it’s always been the sun. That sun is yours. Go get it. You’ve always been the one people liked and I’m sure that damn blessing is going to appreciate your god damn light. Go take that spotlight. It wasn’t mine and it won’t ever be. Ever again.” And with a push, Tchaiko was gone. Bada had pushed her into the chamber. Angry tears streamed down her face as she raced up the stairs.

“Wait!” Kanae called as she raced after her, but she was too late- she had arrived just as the doors to the Restful Darkness slammed shut. “No…” She looked at her group of friends. What had happened to the experiences they had shared? 

When the entire team had argued and Bach had managed to calm them all down? When Sousuke had taught Kanae how to sword fight and when she tried to hit him he had almost puked laughing so hard? When Tchaiko found a swan and proceeded to feed it half a slice of bread, much to the group’s chagrin? When Bada had tried to reflect the sun into a piece of glass and almost blinded everyone? Those had all brought them together, and was this tower tearing them apart?

The fifth chamber was the Trembling Ground: the blessing of the very substance they were standing on now, and Schubert stood in front of the chamber, gripping his talisman.

“It seems as though we must have to depart now, my dearest Senpai. May I see you soon. Now for Demon Spawn and Messiah, not so much.” And with that, he walked into the chamber, and the doors closed.

Sixth floor: the Accompaniment of Thunder- causing rain, and lightning, and a twisted kind of beauty. Nobody knew who would do it, until Liszt stepped forward, clutching her notebook.

“I’m doing it for love. None of you have ever loved, or known what is truly like to love. I’m guessing this blessing will help me find the answer.” Walking in, poem book wide open, the doors closed on her. And once again, Kanae remembered what they had all been through. When Schubert had accidentally turned into a fish through magic, and when Liszt, her, Bada, and Tchaiko had decided to have a girls’ night out… that expanded to the ten of them telling their secrets and growing together. Then, she knew what to do. 

On the next one, she had to grab it as fast as possible. The seventh blessing was the Whirlwind Rondo: the blessing of winds and air and flying, weightless. Kanae rocketed toward the doors to the blessing but was stopped by Chopin, who with a dancer’s grace, leaped in front of her and carefully walked up to take the blessing. “No…” she whispered- not the first time that day. It seemed like everything was crumbling around her. The friendships she had built, the bonds she had made… what were those now in the presence of danger? How much did greed change her dear friends? Looking at the group, it had dwindled to just Beethes and Motes.

“The original three,” she said with a sad smile. “Now let’s go. We need to save the world.” But what if she didn’t want to save it? What if it wasn’t her, but her friends taking all the credit?

The eighth floor: Garden of Silver Snow. The cold that chilled people to their bones, or the beautiful frost on leaves, or snow, or ice on the water. It was between Beethes and Motes- who would betray her now? A flash of pink, and Mozart had pushed Beethoven away and entered the chamber, crying tears of joy that froze before they had the time to fall. And this… was enough to bring Beethes to his knees in sadness, or rage, or regret.

“Why… Motes, why? I thought we were going to be friends forever? I thought we were going to go through this together! I thought we were going to make it through together! I thought we would be friends to the end!”

“Well some friendships just don’t last, Ludwig,” Kanae said and helped him stand up. “We should hurry. It’s almost nighttime. Time’s warped in here.” The torches began to flicker on.

“You’re right, Kanae. I’d never betray you,” Beethes said and stood up. “I swear on my life I’d never betray you. Are you listening?” He said as they walked up the stairs, his voice echoing throughout the wall, and they eventually reached the last blessing: the Quickening Magma- warmth that was given throughout the world. 

“I would never betray you. I swear to god, I would never betray you! Motes is so underhanded, he betrayed me, I swear I would never do that to you, Kanae, I’ve known you for so long.” Suddenly, Beethoven walked toward the door. “I’m sorry, Kanae. I’m so, so, sorry.” His feet hit the ground as he entered the door and it snapped shut.

“Beethoven, no!” Kanae yelled in desperation as she saw the doors close. “Please… What happened to never betraying me…. what happened to being by my side?” She started to cry as she looked around, betrayed as she remembered once more. The time Beethes had tried to make a guitar... the moments she had shared with Motes under the stars- those were all gone now, forgotten, erased by their deception.

“My friends… were never really my friends. They weren’t my friends.” Losing hope, she crumpled outside of the doors, holding the scepter in her hands. “I never wanted to be the Messiah. I never wanted all of this. Someone take me home now.”

A voice inside her, a single thought, told her that she had to do it. “But I have to do it. I have to save the god damn world!” What were those things her friends had said earlier? Good luck? Were they all empty lies used to trick her into thinking that they were all friends? Standing up, she began to walk toward the altar. She wiped her eyes. “We share joy and pain,” she said to herself.

The altar was blinding, and it disoriented Kanae. It wasn’t a traditional altar- there were nine torches around what seemed to be a giant bonfire. A ghost, a spirit of some sort was standing near the altar. She did it. She saved the world. But why wasn’t she happy? The spirit walked toward her, and glowing a brilliant blue against the purples and reds of the sunset, took her hand.

* * *

  _Bach didn’t want to leave them, but he knew he had to. He had heard it all, even through the thick doors. He could hear Tchaikovsky’s cries… he knew she had loved him, he knew how much… but he couldn’t do anything. His fist closed around the blessing and it glowed blue before disappearing. There was the sound of water as the chamber quickly filled up, first his feet, then his ankles, then his knees, rising up to his chest, and eventually above him. He watched the water rise above him, lapping along the ceiling, and he let go of his last breath, knowing that resistance was futile. His last thought before he blacked out was that the sea tasted a little bit saltier that day._

_Sousuke watched the door close as he took the blessing, and before he knew it the room got a little bit hot. It didn’t bother him until the floor turned into flames, and smoke started going up from the walls. Drawing his sword as an instinct, he held it to the flames, which had turned white with heat. It was actually a pretty sight- the fire leaping against the stone, crackling with the embers, but then he couldn’t see it as the heat overwhelmed him._

_Tchaikovsky laughed to herself as she grabbed the blessing and began to sit on the ground, thinking about who knows what. She watched as the ground began to radiate gold, and it began to feel less like a chamber and more like an arid desert. The moisture in her mouth began to dry up and she began to get a headache, so she lied down on the ground as her legs started to cramp up. “Water,” she groaned before closing her eyes forever._

_As Bada grabbed the dark purple blessing she smirked to herself. “Tchaiko’s nothing on me. I’m on my own now.” And the world spiraled into darkness as she realized she wasn’t in the chamber anymore. People started to appear, but as she looked at them she realized they were all clones of Tchaikovsky but with black, soulless eyes instead of Tchaiko’s normal sparkling blue ones. They began to berate her, saying that she wouldn’t ever be strong enough to be alone, and as the comments continued on, Bada lost her mind. “Just get me out of here!” She screamed, echoing into the darkness._

_Schubert gripped the blessing and the talisman at the same time, reciting a prayer to himself. “This is for Senpai. This is for Senpai. And for god, but.. this is for Senpai. I’ll do it for—” The floor rushed out from under him as he fell , and fell, and fell through a hole in the ground, screaming “SENPAI!” until the breath was knocked out of him._

_Liszt looked at her book and dropped it to the ground. Her blessing was more important, and it would be just as loving, to see the light dance in front of her eyes- and that was love. A fleeting feeling but one that would also be with you the rest of your life. As she grabbed it, there was a CRACK as a bolt of lightning rained down, zapping her notebook. She began to run and circle around, hoping that it wouldn’t hit her, and eventually realized it didn’t hit where the blessing was, and as she raced toward it, a bolt of lightning hit her, arching her back, and she dropped to the ground, limp._

_Chopin reached out a hand toward the blessing and felt the wind whip through his bangs, exposing his eyes. The wind was a gentle breeze, but then it became more and more violent. It was hard for him to retain his balance- but this was just another dance. He began to repeat his last steps- left, right, left, right, forward, backward- but the wind was tearing at his clothes, at him, slicing gashes into his skin, and even his breath had become part of the wind. He fell to the floor, light as a feather as the wind stopped._

_Mozart looked at the blessing in the unusually cold chamber and decided to grab it. It looked so beautiful, an ethereal kinda of beauty that reminded him of all that was good to him. And the moment he touched it, the room got cold. It got really, really cold. He fell to the ground, freezing. He needed heat. Any heat. Hugging his arms to his sides to warm himself up, his tears froze before he could think, and the cold chilled his heart._

_Beethoven had just touched the blessing when the floor glowed a bright red, and as he touched the ground, it was warm. And getting warmer. He watched as the floor gave way to a glowing lava, and so did the altar. Motes and Kanae had always knew that he wanted a fire, and this was the fire for him. He thought about what they had said as he closed his eyes and smiled to himself._

* * *

 The spirit let go, and Kanae blinked. She was crying. Why was she crying? It was because of the visions. Only then did she realized what the blood-red candles were near the altar. Her friends’ lives.

“My friends…” she said to herself. “My friends sacrificed themselves for me. All for me. They only wanted me to get out alive. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry that I couldn’t have been as good as you guys. I will make sure that you lives were not in vain.” Another flash of blue, and their silhouettes appeared. One of them extended their hand, like Mozart had done so long ago. “I promise you, that I will share your joy and pain.” 

The blood-flames from the candles dropped down to cracks near the bonfire, and an orange flame appeared, and as the sun rose again, she remembered it all. Everything they had done together. She realized that the blessings weren’t meant for one person and that her friends were only there to help her and move her along… in fact, they were curses. Nine curses. She raised her hand toward the bonfire.

_Your lives will not be in vain._


End file.
